The art of departure
by HPGW
Summary: Basically, Harry is leaving and Ginny wants to come with him. It takes place in the beginning of book 7.


Harry took two steps at a time – he wasn't in the mood to get in a conversation with anyone about why he shouldn't go. He was fine with Ron and Hermione's desitions; he never thought they would come with him anyway. But what he wasn't so fine with was Ginny's reaction nor was he fine with Mrs. Weasley's.  
In the case of Mrs. Weasley, Harry had a lot of trouble with her. She wouldn't – at any rate – let Harry go. She had even gone as far as trying to get him locked up in Azkaban, but changed her mind in the last minute.  
Ginny on the other hand wasn't as, with a lot of irony, _easy_ as Mrs. Weasley. Instead of arguing with Harry, yelling or well, being her usual self, she had gone back into the Ginny she herself used to call the Chamber-Ginny. As you understand, she had gone back into the Ginny she was during her first year at Hogwarts – _silent_ in Harry's presence. Harry had a really hard time dealing with it, not only because he missed her as a girlfriend, but he also missed her as a friend.

So, as he was moving his way up the stairs, this was what occupied his mind. He reached the top and made an immediate left so he could access his and Ron's common room. He closed the door behind him and then heard a loudly cough. He hadn't even seen anyone in the room when he got in there, but he would've recognized that cough anywhere. _Ginny_.  
He turned around and tried to locate her. In the darkest corner in the room, she sat with her legs up and her head leaning against her knees. Harry, who didn't know what do to, pushed himself at the door.  
"Erh... what are you doing here, Gin?" he wondered with a voice more shaky than he had intended.  
"Thinking," she said plainly. Such a simple answer.  
"On what, if I may ask?" Harry asked and he could feel his confidence rise.  
"On weather or not I want to do what I'm about to do," she answered and looked up at him. "Please, Harry, I'm not dangerous. You can at least sit on Ron's bed," she sighed with an armmovement towards Ron's bed and Harry gave a nervous laugh as he approached her. He sat down on the other end (Ginny was up by the pillow) with his legs crossed, ready to hear Ginny out.  
"Before you say anything, I have a question for you, " Harry said firmly. Ginny didn't say anything; she waited for him to talk. "Why have you been ignoring me since the day I got here?" She rolled with her eyes.  
"Boys, " she muttered. Sadly, Harry didn't hear this. "You stupid little kreacher. I was just about to get to that point. If you just would've had a little patience." Harry could feel a blush all over his face.  
"If I may say what I was about to say in the first place," she continued.  
"The thing you didn't even know if you wanted or not?"  
"Precisely. First, I want you to know that I've tried," she said with a sombre expression.  
"Tried wha..."  
"I would appreciate if you would let me finish before you speak. As I said, I've tried, so don't blame me. Second, you're not like any of my other ex-boyfriends (the beast in Harry's chest growled). You were a friend to me before. And you're still a friend to my brother. And third, I also want you to know of my sleepless nights. The nights I've tried to sleep, but couldn't. Simply because of you, Harry, " she said and looked straight at him. He had no idea what he would say when she was finished. "Following this three statements, I also have three conditions for this to work." Harry felt really confused and had to ask.  
"I'm sorry, but what exactly has to work? And why so... formal towards me?" She gave a faint smile.  
"I'm formal because I don't know how else to act in front of you, " and for the first time, Harry could see how vulnerable she really was. He felt like crying.  
"And I'm about to answer your other question. Were was I? Oh, my three conditions," Harry noticed that she started to sound nervous. "The first one is that you can't say no to the third condition. The second is that I truly hope and wish that you'll agree to these conditions. And the third is that I'm..." her voice broke and Harry got up to sit next to her.  
"What?" he asked as he put his arm around her shoulders. This seemed to strengthen her. She looked up in his eyes again. "Promise me you wont say no immediately?" He was just about to nodd with a smile when he realised what she wanted. He got up and started to back towards the door.  
"NO!" he shouted, almost too loud. As Ginny also connected the dots and realised Harry knew what she wanted, she ran up behind him and pushed herself against the door, trying to block it. Her eyes started to fill with tears.  
"No. You're not getting out of this room until we're finished. No, until I'M finished," she said angrily. "And if I may remind you, have you ever seen my bat bogey-spell? It's really good." Harry just stood there, looking at her.  
"I'm sorry Gin, but there's no way. I..." he wasn't sure if she wanted him to end that sentence.  
"You what?"  
"I love you too much for it." They both stood in silence, not knowing what to say. They looked at each other, hurt and angry. Then Ginny, quietly, opened the door and left. Harry had no idea what to do, but a moment later, Ron entered.  
"What are you yelling about?" he asked, amused.  
"It's not funny. And it was nothing. I've got to go," and Harry left Ron as Ginny had left Harry.  
Harry had no idea why, but he walked to Ginny's room. Without even a knock, he entered, but there were no sign of her. He saw that her bathroom door was closed and quickly understood that she was in there. He whispered alohomora, but the door would not budge.  
"Gin?" he said carefully. He heard a quiet sob and cleared his throat. "Please let me in," he tried again. He sighed loudly before he left her room to do some thinking of his own.

After an hour alone in Ron's room, Ron and Hermione entered carefully.  
"Harry, please tell us what's wrong," Hermione pleaded as she sat down on the floor next to him. Ron did the same.  
"It's Ginny. She's turned in to a moron over the summer," he sighed.  
"What did she do? It couldn't possibly be so terrible," Hermione said as the relief spread in her voice. She had thought it to be something worse.  
"She wants to come with me," he said quickly and shuddered at the thought. Hermiones mouth flew open in surprise and Ron rose to his feet, shocked.  
"Ginny would never be stupid enough to ask for something like that!" Ron exclaimed.  
"She didn't ask."  
"Really?" Ron asked, a smile hidden in the corner of his mouth. A sign of relief.  
"No. She simply said she would." For the second time, they both went silent in shock.  
"CHILDREN! DINNER'S READY," Mrs. Weasley shouted less than five seconds later, which made them all jump. They walked downstairs in silence. Harry had no expectations that Ginny would be eating with them, so imagine his surprise when she sat there, laughing with Fred and George. She didn't even act like she'd noticed their arrival.  
Harry saw an opportunity, and realised that this could be his only chance. He gathered the courage.  
"Ginny, could I talk to you for a moment?". The entire family, including Ron and Hermione, looked at him like he was stupid. But Harry knew exactely what he did; Ginny couldn't possibly turn him down in front of everyone.  
"Sure," she said, trying to sound casual but failing miserably. Her voice broke. Harry took her out to their garden, hoping that they wouldn't be heard.  
"Okay..." Harry began.  
"No, please, let me talk first," Ginny interupted him. As Harry didn't respond, she continued. "I want you to know that there's nothing you can say or do that'll make me not come with you. If you wont let me, I'll follow you until you do."  
"Gin, please try to see this from my point of view. If you were the one going, would you've let me come?" She hesitated.  
"Absolutely." Harry laughed a quiet laugh at this; she couldn't even have convinced a rat.  
"I love you, probably more than life itself. I'll go alone, and I will, if help me God, come back to you. There's nothing that can keep me away from you, ever. I'm leaving tomorrow, right after the wedding, and you're not going to follow me. But I do have a small favour to ask of you, and that is that you'll wait for me. I will do everything in my power to come back to you, and if that isn't enough, I'll do it anyway. I will marry you, and I will have a family with you. But not now, not until after this. And I will come out of this alive," Harry finished confident. Ginny stood there for a moment, before she reached up on her toes, kissed him gently and went inside.

"I'll take care of myself. I'll come back," Harry assured Mrs. Weasley for the third time and glimpsed at Ginny at his last words. She smiled faintly. "As for you two, you need to take care of each other. And yeah, don't forget about me, " he grinned at Ron and Hermione. Ron grinned back, but Hermione burst in to tears. Ron hugged her, and carefully rolled his eyes.  
Ten feet away from the others stood Ginny, waiting on her own goodbye. There were so much things Harry wanted to say to her, do with her, but not in front of the others. He hugged her tightly.  
"I'll come back to you. I'll keep my promise."  
And at that, Harry transfered away.


End file.
